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Wayne Muller
How Then, Shall We Live?: Four Simple Questions That Reveal the Beauty and Meaning of Our Lives Paperback – Illustrated, 5 May 1997
by Wayne Muller (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 120 ratings
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Paperback
$37.37
We all long to experience a sense of inner wholeness and guidance, but today's notions of healing and recovery too often keep us focused on our brokenness, on our deficiencies rather than our strengths. Wayne Muller's luminous new book gently guides us to the place where we are already perfect, already blessed with the wisdom we need to live a life of meaning, purpose and grace.
He starts, as do so many spiritual teachers, with simple questions: Who am I? What do I love? How shall I live, knowing I will die? What is my gift to the family of the earth? He then takes us deeper, exploring each question through transformative true stories. We meet men and women--Wayne's neighbors, friends, patients--who have discovered love, courage, and kindness even in the midst of sorrow and loss. And through them we glimpse that relentless spark of spiritual magic that burns within each of us.
Woven throughout are contemplations, daily practices, poems, and teachings from the great wisdom teachings. Page by page, we become more awake to the joy and mystery of this precious human life, and to the unique gifts every one of us has to offer the world.
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Print length
304 pages
5 May 1997
Product description
From the Back Cover
We all long to experience a sense of inner wholeness and guidance, but today's notions of healing and recovery too often keep us focused on our brokenness, on our deficiencies rather than our strengths. Wayne Muller's luminous new book gently guides us to the place where we are already perfect, already blessed with the wisdom we need to live a life of meaning, purpose and grace.
He starts, as do so many spiritual teachers, with simple questions: Who am I? What do I love? How shall I live, knowing I will die? What is my gift to the family of the earth? He then takes us deeper, exploring each question through transformative true stories. We meet men and women--Wayne's neighbors, friends, patients--who have discovered love, courage, and kindness even in the midst of sorrow and loss. And through them we glimpse that relentless spark of spiritual magic that burns within each of us.
Woven throughout are contemplations, daily practices, poems, and teachings from the great wisdom teachings. Page by page, we become more awake to the joy and mystery of this precious human life, and to the unique gifts every one of us has to offer the world.
About the Author
Wayne Muller is an ordained minister and therapist and founder of Bread for the Journey, an innovative organization serving families in need. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, he is the senior scholar at the Fetzer Institute and a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. He also runs the Institute for Engaged Spirituality and gives lectures and retreats nationwide. He is the author of Legacy of the Heart, a New York Times bestseller, and How, Then, Shall We Live? He lives with his family in Northern California.
Product details
Publisher : Bantam (5 May 1997)
Language : English
Paperback : 304 pages
4.6 out of 5 stars 120 ratings
Wayne Muller
Wayne Muller has been a therapist, minister, community advocate, consultant, public speaker, and bestselling author of Legacy of the Heart and Sabbath, among others. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Wayne spent the last thirty-five years serving thee abused, bereft, sick, and oppressed. He founded Bread for the Journey, a network of ordinary people who volunteer in neighborhood philanthropy. Wayne listens primarily for what is beautiful, strong, and true within us, to learn to find nourishment as our lives unfold in new, unexpected directions. He was Senior Scholar at the Fetzer Institute, Extended Faculty at the Institute for Noetic Sciences, and has received several awards for his work with those in need.
He currently works with select individuals as a private spiritual director and mentor.
You can contact Wayne at www.waynemuller.com
"Wayne Muller gently moved me beyond the questions of Why? and Why me?, helped me step over the barriers of guilt and shame and encouraged me to look through my wounds as through a window that opens to a new view of who I am and where I am called to go." - Henri Nouwen, "The Wounded Healer"
"Wayne Muller gives us the license, the encouragement to take that single, mindful breath which puts our busy lives in perspective and helps restore our souls." - Fred Rogers, of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Top reviews from other countries
Poetry Primavera
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Poetic, WiseReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 20 April 2000
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Wayne Muller has a deeply caring soul and in this book evidences a lyrical pen.
While no book can conclusively answer the question "How, Then, Shall We Live?" this book is a wonderfully readable and gentle, compassionate and evocative, exploration of some of life's ultimate issues.
Much of the book gains its power from stories of people facing death in heartbreaking yet courageous and liberating ways.
This book is good for your soul (however "soul" may be defined or experienced).
In addition to the author's own thoughts, he includes helpful exercises, and cites many inspiring and thoughtful passages from others.
This is not an analytic work that delves into complicated philosophical concepts. Instead, it touches on the simple, yet most profound, questions of life and death in the deceptive plainness of the most wise. It is food for the heart, and it rings deeply true. And, while the author seems to be a deeply spiritual man, there is nothing of a dogmatic sense about any of the writing.
Read this book; your best self will thank you!
54 people found this helpfulReport
Darcy Hovard dhovard
5.0 out of 5 stars A Way to liveReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 28 March 2021
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I'm grateful to have read this book and will return to it again for inspiration and sources on how to Live.
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Linda Lander
5.0 out of 5 stars Love this bookReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 3 October 2013
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I've bought so many of these books over the years I've lost count, because I often give it as gifts to friends. My husband and I have read it several times individually and are now reading it again together. We've also read other books by Wayne Muller. His writing flows, isn't wordy, is inspirational and has been part of my journey in life. Highly recommend "How Then Shall We Live" to anyone looking for a book that simply describes ultimately what life is all about.
11 people found this helpfulReport
s
1.0 out of 5 stars Poor Condition...not Very Good Condition!Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 28 November 2022
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The front cover is deeply grooved in several places the full length of this book & a couple sm parts of front cover missing! Poor condition....listed as very good condition. Not!
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Wm. S. Starr
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommendedReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 18 April 2014
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I have purchased this book over and over, for the valued and trusted people of my life. Muller has brought together so gracefully, the truths of the ages and the possibilities we each have for finding That Essence which is the Overcomer within. Take the time to find the Timeless and Indestructible...the Savior... as you read Wayne Muller's humble work.
Thank you, Wayne Muller!
One person found this helpfulReport
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How, Then, Shall We Live?
Four Simple Questions That Reveal the Beauty and Meaning of Our Lives
By Wayne Muller
Profound meditations on four essential questions which are at the center of the human journey.
Book Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
In more than 20 years of practice as a therapist and spiritual counselor, Wayne Muller has enabled people to tap the divine source within and to make use of the wisdom learned from pain. In "How, Then, Shall We Live" he focuses on four questions which are at the center of the human journey: Who am I? What do I love? How shall I live, knowing I will die? What is my gift to the family of the earth?
Muller's enlightening meditations on these questions are filled with quotations and stories from world religions. He skillfully balances inner growth with outward service as he shows how our lives can be enriched by the spiritual practices of kindness, gratefulness, giving and receiving, attention, simplicity, and remembering. "How, Then, Shall We Live" vividly and compellingly describes what a path with heart really means.
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